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Opening tonight: New Trails exhibit

I stopped by the gallery space at 8517 Germantown Ave. yesterday afternoon to get a preview of the New Trails exhibit, which is having an artists’ reception tonight from 6 to 9 p.m.

New Trails was conceived by Chestnut Hill Arts Initiative organizers Brookes Britcher and Bryan Rice and required a year of work to organize and install. The effort is sponsored by the City of Philadelphia, The Chestnut Hill Business Improvement District and Bowman Properties among others. The city was particularly responsible for working with Britcher and Rice on installations in the Wissahickon, the inspiration for all of the pieces int the exhibit.

The exhibit is a real area effort with the works of 24 artists installed in the Wissahickon Park, Germantown Avenue retail spaces and the gallery space. The space, donated by Bowman Properties is worth the experience — Britcher and Rice with the help of several Bowman workers and others transformed the unfinished shop into the kind of contemporary, open space you’d expect in Old City or Northern Liberties.

Visiters to the space will find works in many mediums: from sculptures of natural materials and recycled plastics, to industrial materials, videos and audio. Each piece is the result of the artists efforts to tell a story about the Wissahickon, from ruminations on its history to considerations of it as a natural space. — Pete Mazzaccaro

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